Effects of fungicide timing on control of Rhynchosporium secalis in barley plants

Sprays of captafol, carbendazim, carbendazim + tridemorph + maneb, diclobutrazol, triadimefon or triadimefon + carbendazim all completely protected barley plants in a glasshouse against R. secalis for at least 30 days. However, their effectiveness in preventing disease development when applied after inoculation differed: triadimefon, traidimefon + carbendazim, or diclobutrazol were the most effective, completely preventing symptom development when applied up to 5 days after inoculation to plants grown above 16 °C, and up to 8 days below 8 °C. All the fungicides decreased the number of viable conidia produced by leaf blotch lesions, and when applied to infected plants at G. S. 30, greatly decreased the upward spread of the disease under simulated rain conditions; the most effective fungicides in these respects were triadimefon and triadimefon + carbendazim. The above fungicides and fungicide mixtures, together with the recently introduced materials fenpropimorph and propiconazole were applied to diseased winter barley crops in winter or in spring. All treatments decreased leaf blotch development and increased yields. In most cases, a winter application was more effective than spring applications, particularly if applied in mid-November. The most effective fungicides were triadimefon and propiconazole. The field trials data fitted well with the predictions of performance indicated by the glasshouse investigations.     

Melanin Standard Method: Particle Description

Melanin isolated from the ink sac of Sepia officinalis (Sepia melanin) has been proposed as a standard for natural eumelanin. There are no standard methods for the isolation, purification, and storage of melanins. Mild methods designed to preserve the native composition and structure of melanin are needed. The specific aim of the present work, using Sepia melanin, was to develop a mild and generally applicable protocol for the isolation and purification of melanins. It is well established that melanin polymers contain a large number of free carboxylic acid residues. These anionic residues are responsible for the cation exchange properties observed for melanins. Heating melanins with hydrochloric acid at reflux has been demonstrated to lead to extensive decarboxylation. Indeed, heat alone has been shown to cause decarboxylation, and care must be exercised to avoid such conditions. By analogy with cation exchange resins, melanins should be isolated and named according to the associated counterion (e.g., Sepia melanin—K⁺ form). The method reported here avoided extremes in pH and temperature, and was designed to yield melanin in the K⁺ form. Physical disaggregation of particulate melanin using a wet milling step was also found to facilitate removal of significant quantities of adsorbed protein. The following physical parameters were used to monitor the purification and to characterize the resultant melanin: pH, conductance, particle size, and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy.     

New durophagous arthrodires from Gogo, Western Australia

Three new monotypic genera of eubrachythorarid arthrodires with crushing toothplates are described from the Upper Devonian Gogo Formation of Western Australia as Bruntonichthys multidens gen. et sp. nov., Bullerichthysfascidens gen. et sp. nov. and Kendrickkhthys cavemosus gen. et sp. nov. Their structure and relationships are discussed within the framework provided by a sketch cladogram. All three are interchangeable with Coccosteus spp. but their phylogenetic relationships are not known in any detail. However, Kendrickkhthys does appear to be immediately related to Dinomylostoma from North America.     

The Mode of Transmission of the Acephaline Gregarine Parasites of Earthworms

SYNOPSIS. Speculations regarding the mode of transmission of monocystid parasites of earthworms over a period of more than 100 years have never been tested experimentally under controlled conditions. In order to do so a stock of infectionfree Eisenia foetida (Sav.) was raised from cocoons and experimental infections were induced in this host using sporocysts of the gregarine parasites Apolocystis elongata Phillips & Mackinnon 1946, and Nematocystis elmassiani (Hesse, 1909). Experimental infections were obtained by feeding to uninfected worms sporocysts obtained directly from infected host worms. This proved that the intervention of a vector is not a necessary condition of infection. Infections could not be induced by injecting sporocysts through the body wall into the body cavity. Infections are thus probably acquired in nature by the ingestion of sporocysts. Sporocysts do not leave the body of the host by being passed from coelom to lumen of the gut, nor do they pass directly to the exterior through apertures of the body wall. There was no evidence of parasitic autotomy. It is therefore concluded that death and decay of the host is the normal method of dissemination of sporocysts. Sporocysts were not infective after drying in air for three weeks. Other sporocysts lost potency after storage in moist conditions for several months. Infections involving the organisms specified were sporadic and unpredictable; modifying factors, such as variations in host susceptibility and latency in infection, appeared to be operating.     

Decalcification at the Mantle-Shell Interface in Molluscs

Decalcification at the mantle-shell interface in Mercenariatnercenaria was studied through the changes in the chemicalcomposition of the extrapallial fluid, and by the measurementof Ca⁴⁵-deposition and solution. Measurements of O₂-tensiondemonstrated that the clam was anaerobic soon after the valveswere closed. Measurements of calcium, carbon dioxide, and hydrogenion concentration showed that all of these components of theextrapallial fluid increase with increasing time of closure.These measurements, and measurements of calcium and succinicacid in the tissues and fluids of the clam, indicated thatsuccinicacid produced by the anaerobic metabolism of the clam was neutralizedby the dissolution of previously deposited shell.